Golf club



Aug. 19 1924'. I 1,505,296

W. L. SMITH cow cws Filed June 20, 1922 '2 Sheets-Sheet 1 A ifivsnion BY i v ATTORNEY w. L. SMITH" Aug. 19 1924.-

GOLF CLUB Filed Jun? 20, 1922 2 smu -shat .2

Patented Aug. 19, 1924.

" j STATES 1,505,29 PATENT QFFICE.

' WALTER; L. SMITH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

GOLF GLUIB.

Applicatlon flled- June 20, 1922. Serial No. 589,656.

, more particularly to golf clubs of the niblick type.

With the multiplication of sand pits and their greater depths in golf courses of modern construction, the niblick and like clubs have become of greater importance than heretofore in playing the game of golf. In playing a ball from a sand pit, where this type of club is ordinarily used, the lower edge of the face of the club mustbe forced into the sand and under the ball to raise it stroke the sole of the niblick is generally made of greater depth than in the other iron clubs. In consequence of this greater depth, the shoulder made by the rear edge of the sole and the lower edge of the rearv face of the club becomes more pronounced and. op-

crates to hinder the passage of the club through the sand, makin it more diflicult to carry through and also force of the stroke. 1 v

One of the objects of this invention accordingly is to provide an improved golf club of the niblick type, which is moree'fficient in action than the prior clubs.

Another object is to provide a .club of this character adaptedto be forced throughsand with less resistance than formerly. a

Another object is to provide a niblick golf club adapted to'iinpart reater force'to the ball from the stroke wit out increasing the clubs weight.

Still another object is to provide an improved construction for the rear' shoulder'iof the sole of a niblick "whereby it may 'pass through sand with substantially a minimum of reslstance, the construction bei such as not to disturb the balance of the ialub.

Other objects of this invention will in part be specifically pointed out in connection with the-detailed description which follows,

,and in part'will be obvious.

etracting from the The mvention accordingly consists in the features of construction, the combination and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in'the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of their application will appear in the appended claims.

For a more complete understanding of the nature and advantages of this invention ref- .erence should be had to the following detailed description, which describes the best illustrative embodiment of this invention at present known to me, taken-in connection with the accompanying drawing',,in which:

Figure 1 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation showing the manner in which a niblick club constructed to embody this invention cuts through sand to strike the ball;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the rear face of the club shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is another elevation of the golf Fig. 4 is a section of the club shown in Fi 1' taken on the line a:-m; and

- ig. 5"is an elevation of the rear face of a golf club showing a modified construction embodying this invention.

' Referring now to the drawing, 10 denotes generally the blade or metallic head of a niblick golf club, which blade hasa front face 11, inclined as shown in Figure 1 and adapted to come into engagement with golf balls when lying in sand as illustrated at 12. This club has a rear face 13, and a sole 14. The inclination of the front face 11 is quite pronounced, and when in engagementwith the ball 12, makes an angle withthe vertical which is approximately 45 degrees. The

rear face 13 has considerably less inclinaliomthe sole 14 in consequence is relatively The shoulder .formedat 15 by the sole 14' and the rear face 13 of the blade obstructs the passage of the blade through the sand, indicated at 16 in Figure 1, such passage being necessary for the bunker stroke; especially is this so when the balllies in a little pocket in the sand as it generally does.

In accordance with the practice of this invention, the niblick i-sp'rovided with "furrows 20, cut through the shoulder 15, in a a club shown in Figs. 1 and 2 showing the features of the sole;

out of the pit. To. give greater force to the manner such that very little resistance will result when pressing the club through the sand. These furrows 20 accordingly are cut fore and aft across the shoulder and artowa ranged to follow one another closely along the edge of the shoulder. The webs of metal 23 (see Figure 4) remaining'in the shoulder 15 between the furrows will be relatively thin or narrow and are so shaped as to offer sub-- stantially the minimumresistance when cutting through the sand in making the stroke. The furrows 20 in consequence will be substantially inverted Vs in shape, preferably slightly arched or rounded at the vertex or base of the furrow and arranged so that the wider arts of the furrowstend to flare out the surface of the blade, while the narrower parts extending inwardly toward the interior of the blade, as clearly illustrated in the section in Figure 4.

The forward points or ends- 21 of the furrows 20 are preferably disposed about to of an inch rearwardl from the forward edge of the sole 14, t us providing a resistance to the passage of the blade and the dra of the shou der 15 when being driven t rou h sand: It may also, if desired, be further compensated by' increasing the de th of the sole so as to increase the mass 0 the blade towards its base and thereby bring the centre of percussion back substantially to the centre of the front face 11.

To this same end the inclination of the sole 14 with reference to the front face 11 may be changed; for example, by tipping the plane of the sole 14 slight y below the horizontal when in striking positionabout an 4 axis corresponding with the forward edgeof the sole, the shoulder 15 in consequence cutting more deeply into the sand; also the contour of the front face may be altered and made somewhat convex or concaveinstead of plane. In general though the balance of vthe club, when provided with furrows, may

' be restored by employing suitable inclinations for both the surfaces of the rear face and the sole of the club.

In the modification illustrated inoFi g. 5

the furrows indicated at 25 are not cut straight across the shoulder as are'the fur-' rows in Fig. 2 so as to be in planes crossing the shoulderedge 15 at right an Ice, but are cut diagonally, so as to be in p anes which rear face forming a shoulder, said shoulder .cross the edge of 'the shoulder 15 making havin a plurality of substantially V-j acute angles on the one side and obtuse an les on the other. As a result the club provi ed with diagonal furrows is adapted for the diagonal or slicing strokes Ref certain players .from rou h places off the fair green other than san bunkers, 1

As many. changes could be made in the above construction, and many apparently widely different embodiments of th1s inve'n: tion could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it 'is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown inthe accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. It is also to be understood that the langua e used in the following claims is inten ed to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention'herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention, which, as a matter oflanguage, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim is new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A golf club of the niblick type comprising a blade having an inclined front face, a rear rear face, the should r-formed by the rear face and sole havin a plurality of substantially V-shaped furrows formed therein said furrows extending into the sole an rear face providing channels for the passage of sand and forming a plurality of webs all sides of which converge towa shoulder, thereby providing webs adapted to cut through the sand with substantially a minimum of resistance. I

'2. A golf club of the niblick type comprising a blade having an inclined front face, a rear face and 'a sole meeting the rear face, ;the, shoulder-formed by the. rear face and. sole having aplurality of substan- I tially V-shaped furrows formed therein said furrows extending into the sole and rear face providing channels for-{the passage of sand and forming a plurality of webs all 1 sides of which converge toward the shoulder to presentsand engaging faces dually decreasing in width from their ases toward the shoulder. I v

3. A golf club of the niblick type com rising a blade having an-inclined front ace, a rear face and'a sole meeting the shap' furrows formed therein, said furthe rows extending into the sole and'rear. faoei';

providing channels for the passage of sand and forming a plurality of webs disposed along the shoulder, said webs presenting in the rear face and sole sand-engaging faces sloping and gradually decreasing in width from their bases toward the center line of the shoulder thereby providing webs adapted to cutthrough the sand with substantially a minimum of resistance and to effect an efficient discharge of the sand passing through said channels.

4. A golf club of the niblick type comprising a blade having an inclined front face and rear face and a sole meeting the rear face forming a shoulder, said shoulder having a plurality of substantially V- shaped furrows formed therein, said furrows extending into the sole to substantially one-eighth to one-sixteenth of an inch rearwardly of the front edge and into the rear face to a point one-fourth to threeeighth's of an inch above said shoulder providing channels for the passa e of sand and forming a plurality of we s disposed along the shoulder said webs presenting in the rear face and sole sand-engaging faces sloping and gradually decreasing in width from their bases toward the shoulder thereby providing webs adapted to cut through the sand with substantially a minimum of resistance and to effect an efiicient'dischar e of the sand passing through said channe s.

5. A golf club of the niblick type comprising a blade having an inclined front face, a rear face and a sole meetin the rear face forming a shoulder, said shou der havingka plurality of furrows formed therein, said furrows extending into the sole and rear face providing a plurality of direction guiding webs, the sides of said webs converging toward the shoulder presenting sand-engaging faces gradually decreasin in width from their bases, thereby provi ing webs adapted to cut through the sand with substantially a minimum of resistance and to effect an eflicient discharge of the sand passing through said furrows, said webs bemg disposed to change the direction of movement of the club when it contacts with the ground.

6. A niblick or like club adapted for use in the game of golf, comprising a blade having an inclined front face, a rear face and a sole, the shoulder formed by said rear face and sole being provided with substantially V-shaped furrows, said furrows being. cut diagonally across the shoulder and having its forward point disposed substantially one-eighth to one-sixteenth of an inch to the rear of the front edge of the sole.

7. A niblick or like club adapted for use in the game of golf, comprising a blade having an inclined front face, a rear face, and asole, the shoulder formed by said rear face and sole being provided with a substantially V-shaped furrow, said furrow being cut diagonally across the shoulder and having its rear point extending upwardly from the edge of said shoulder substan-.

one-eighth to one-sixteenth of an inch rearwardly of the front edge of the sole and upwardly on the rear face to a point onequarter to three-eighthsof an inch above said shoulder.

9. A niblick or like club adapted for use in the game of golfvcomprising a metallic blade having an inclined front face, a rear face, and a sole, the shoulder formed by said rear face and sole being provided with: a plurality of substantially V-shaped furrows cut diagonally thereacross, said furrows having the wider arts closely spaced along the shoulder an thereby providing relatively thin metallic webs ther'ebetween adapted to cut through sand, said furrows extending across said sole to forward points disposed to the rear of the front edge there- 'of substantially one-eighth to one-sixteenth of an inch and reaching upwardly on the rear face to points substantially one-quarter to three-eighths of an inch above said shoulder.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in the presence of two Witnesses.

WALTER L. SMITH.

Witnesses:

WM. W; FRASER, M. A. OAsrnNL 

